didier faustino

ДИДЬЕ ФАУСТИНО
דידייה פאוסטינו
ディディエ·ファウスティーノ
迪迪埃·福斯蒂诺

vortex populi

source: designboom

didier faustino infills magasin, centre national d’art contemporain in grenoble with the exhibition ‘des corps & des astres’ (bodies and stars). curated by reiko setsuda, the show highlights a selection of works created from 2010 to present day, as well as a monumental, site-specific installation titled ‘vortex populi’ that weaves its way through the interior space.

spanning the vast, 1,700m2 art center, the exhibition is modeled on a continuous repetition of hybrid forms and narrations that question the organization of social systems. in this abundance of signs and motifs, faustino associates domestic decor and disastrous landscapes whose overlapping dimensions muddle the senses.

while faustino has just announced the launch of ‘fundación alumnos 47,’ a foundation, library & artist residency in mexico city, the exhibition at magasin credits his 20 years of research on the relationship between body and space, dystopia and ‘bio political’ systems. since the mid-nineties, the franco-portugese architect’s numerous creations and proposed utopias have adopted an sculptural and structural quality characterized by a fictional dimension and critical stance, and extend from installation to experimentation.
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source: wallpaper

When Magasin, the Centre National d’Art Contemporain in Grenoble, invited Didier Faustino to fill its 1,700 sq m venue with his work, the Franco-Portuguese artist accepted, even while wondering how he’d utilise such a vast space. Enter Vortex Populi, one of two new spatial inventions, in which a chain of ubiquitous security barriers twist around each other and upward toward the ceiling. Here, they cordon off the gallery, seemingly lifted by some supernatural force. Manipulating barricades is a familiar theme for Faustino; in this case, however, the scale is more impressive and the message particularly resonates in light of the current refugee crisis. ‘We are in a society where there is no strong position; we’re always compromising,’ he says. ‘I’m talking about control of populations and manipulation; the individual thinks he has a right to speak – but in the end, nothing is achieved.’

And while the work’s title – a play on ‘Vox Populi’, ‘voice of the people’ in Latin – betrays this intention, the double entendre of the show’s title, ‘Des Corps & Des Astres’, reveals his overall modus operandi. Spoken aloud, it can also be ‘Décors et Disastres’. As a brief French language lesson, the former means ‘of bodies and stars’, the latter, ‘décor and disasters'; both apply equally to Faustino’s ongoing artistic pursuit of how the individual fits into a contemporary collective reality.